Codes and Ciphers
by SimplyG
Summary: "" "Mike, come to take a look at this." Max, sitting on the edge of her seat, barely raise her gaze as she called the man sitting in front of her. "What is it?" he asked, swivelling back and forth, his eyes glued to his computer. "" What happened between Max and Mike right before Joe's message on TV on "Unmasked" (s02e09)? Read to find out! R


Hi! I'm back with a new Fic! I'm so obsessed with "The Following" that finally I'm inspired to write again... This story takes place in "Unmasked" right before Joe Carroll's resurrection announcement. English is not my mother language, I'm from Italy, so if you have any suggestion, feel free to comment. I'm more than happy to learn something new. Hope you like it and don't forget to let me know what you think!

SimplyG

* * *

"Mike, come to take a look at this."

Max, sitting on the edge of her seat, barely raise her gaze as she called the man sitting in front of her.

"What is it?" he asked, swivelling back and forth, his eyes glued to his computer.

After Jana's suicide she had headed back to Ryan's house, she and Mike working on decrypting her phone and computer. It wasn't easy of course, Jana had been FBI too, so she knew her way around pass codes and hidden documents. She could easily cover her tracks.

And Ryan wasn't making things easier, walking from one side to the other of the room, mumbling to himself. Some times he stopped, looked at the board and then kept on walking.

"I think I found something."

Mike jumped on his chair and in one fluid movement he was on her side of the table, his interest sparked.

"There's this sequence, repeated over and over in these emails."

She pointed at the monitor, underlining the words and numbers. Ryan looked at them, shook his head and went out of the room: he hated computers.

"You think it's some kind of code?"

Mike put one of his hand on the back of her chair and the other one on the table, next to her elbow. Her eyes drifted there, a little surprised by his actions.

"Ehm, yeah… I think it is. Maybe some message hidden for Joe to find it."

He lowered himself, his face getting closer to hers. She held her breath for a moment.

She had to face the truth: despite their rough start, he was growing on her. Suffice to say: he was hot.

"Have you tried using some common codes and ciphers?" He was whispering, his mouth much closer to her ear than she could possibly imagine, his warm breath tickling her.

"Ehm, yes… I'm running the basic ones now. You know, Vigenère, Transposition… The easy ones. Maybe we're gonna get lucky."

Mike nodded. Instead of moving away and going back to his workspace, he stood there. Max managed to stay focused for a while, not daring to take her eyes off the computer.

"Nothing…" she murmured, her fists colliding on the desk.

"Try this."

Since there was some space between her and the back of her seat, Mike sneaked his arms behind her to reach the keyboard. His chin was almost resting on her head, his chest nearly presses to her back.

She hid her face with her hand, slightly blushing. Mike noticed it, and chuckled.

"There. It tried the Casear Shift Cipher."

Max raised her head to look him in the eyes. He lowered his head too, their noses were a few inches apart. She smiled, slightly leaning towards him, making them touch. It was like an electric shock ran through her body. Mike moved a bit, his cheek resting on her temple, tickling her with his stubble.

A noise came from the computer. The research came up with nothing. Mike sighed.

"We may have to send it to the FBI." he said. They both watched the monitor, thinking about the next move.

"I have an idea…" whispered Max. To digit on the keyboard, she had to put some space between her and Mike.

"Maybe this will do. The Fibonacci Code." she typed a few more codes and pressed Enter. She leaned back, regaining her spot with her head against his cheek.

"You think it'll work?" he asked. He turned his head to face her almost at the same time as she did.

The tip of their noses touching, their lips a few inches apart. If possible, they moved even closer together. Their lips brushed together. Max smiled and Mike mirrored her.

But before he could press his lips on hers again, an alert noise came from the computer, making them both jump. With a disappointed expression on her face, Max turned away from him.

"It's a Joe Carroll alert." she said, her voice a bit shaky and hoarse. She clicked on it and a live news channel popped up.

Carrie Cook was on the screen, the seriousness of her voice caught immediately Max's and Mike's attention.

"Oh, shit…" she murmured standing up. She collided with Mike, grabbing his shoulders to hold herself on her feet.

She briefly smiled, a sad smiled that was meant to tell him how disappointed she was about their almost-kiss. He nodded, fully understanding.

"Next time." They both grinned, smiling at the thought of what those two words stood for.

"Ryan!" she said out loud, walking towards her uncle, sitting on the sofa, his head in his hands. "Turn the TV on. Now."

As Joe's message was broadcasting, Mike slowly came closer to her, his hand sneaking into hers, holding it tight.

"_I am Joe Carroll. And I am very much alive."_

She looked at him with a small thankful smile, before concentrating on Joe's threatening announcement.

"_In the coming days more blood will be spilled and nowhere will be safe. Not behind the locked doors of your homes, or in your streets, or… or even when you eat."_

Mike's grip became stronger, his thumb stroking her knuckles.

"_You will never feel safe again, so prepare yourself, for this is the Age of Joe Carroll and my name will live forever."_

A shiver ran through her back as Mike moved even closer to her. In that moment, Max felt safe, a feeling she knew she wouldn't experience again soon, at least not until Joe Carroll was alive.


End file.
